Promotional trinkets business goes from basement to boomtown

Elizabeth Davies

Thursday

Sep 24, 2009 at 12:01 AMSep 24, 2009 at 7:41 PM

When Norma Polcek finds something that isn’t quite up to par, she doesn’t complain about it — she just takes it on and does it better. There’s one business, however, that has dominated Polcek’s attention for the past 25 years: SAMCO, her Machesney Park company that was honored this year by the U.S. Commerce Association’s Best in Local Business program. SAMCO is the company you go to when you want corporate pens, hats or polo shirts. It’s where businesses can order giveaway snow globes, travel mugs or puzzles. Of course, SAMCO doesn’t actually make those products — they just have the brainpower to track them down.

When Norma Polcek finds something that isn’t quite up to par, she doesn’t complain about it — she just takes it on and does it better.

“There’s a little saying: Some people see things the way they are. I see things they way they should be,” she said. “I’m always looking for things to change, to make them better.”

That’s why, over the years, this entrepreneur has sold everything from cheese slicers and T-shirts to garment bags and turtlenecks. Moving forward, she wants to sell cushions to make high-heeled shoes that much more comfy.

There’s one business, however, that has dominated Polcek’s attention for the past 25 years: SAMCO, her Machesney Park company that was honored this year by the U.S. Commerce Association’s Best in Local Business program.

SAMCO is the company you go to when you want corporate pens, hats or polo shirts. It’s where businesses can order giveaway snow globes, travel mugs or puzzles. Of course, SAMCO doesn’t actually make those products — they just have the brainpower to track them down.

As Polcek puts it, her company sells more than a million items — “and then some,” she said.

“Anything anyone finds anywhere that they want to use to promote their business, we can get it. We’ll look anywhere in the world for anything.”

That’s meant necklaces from New York City, and it’s also meant hand-crafted carvings from Hawaii.

“When customers are really looking for neat things, it takes a couple of months, but we’ve come up with fun stuff,” Polcek said.

SAMCO, named after Polcek’s late father Sam, actually started in her basement. It was something she worked on during the hours when her children were in school and she needed something to fill her time. Back then, she remembers having a brown folder for her orders and invoices and thought it would be exciting if, one day, she could fill the folder.

“Now, we have cabinets full,” she laughed.

As it happens, Polcek believes running her company from home while raising her kids was influential in turning SAMCO into a success. It gave her the freedom to do her best work for her clients, without worrying about managing her overhead.

“The neat thing doing it from home was I didn’t worry about how many sales I had,” she said. “I could focus on keeping my customers happy. I didn’t have to do this to earn a living — I wanted to do it.”

Polcek, who trained as a high school math teacher before becoming a stay-at-home mom, says attention to detail and tenacity are what have kept her business alive.

“It’s far more complex than you would dream,” she said. “There’s a lot to learn. I studied it for about a year before making my first sale.”

As it happens, that first sale came after Polcek read about a local business in the newspaper. She approached the owner, made her pitch and walked away with a deal.

Today, SAMCO employs five people and boasts a client roster with companies as far away as California and Europe. Still, Polcek’s favorite part of her job is rooting around to come up with that perfect item for her client.

“I love to make the customer happy,” she said. “I love when we can find something a little different that’s not run-of-the-mill. We really think about the customer, and I think they know that.”